


The Photo

by hannahfanficrobron



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Love, M/M, Misunderstandings, Romance, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-03
Packaged: 2018-07-28 21:34:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7657549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannahfanficrobron/pseuds/hannahfanficrobron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aaron's biggest fear seems to be coming true. He gets a photo of Robert kissing another man, and can't believe Robert would do this to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Aaron looked at his phone which had just buzzed with a message. Unknown number. He frowned, opening the message, then his heart stopped. It was a picture of Robert kissing another man. Aaron could barely move, couldn’t think, just staring at the photo. The backlight dimmed on his phone and he tapped it impatiently to have another look at it. It was definitely Robert, _his_ Robert with his arms around another man. God, it hurt. It hurt so much that Aaron could barely breathe with it. He never reasonably thought Robert would cheat on him, which was stupid. People like him don’t change, why would he ever think Robert had it in him to be faithful? Of course he didn’t. And yet, seeing that picture, that image of Robert around another man felt like it had completely crushed him. His mind had started to run away from him, imaging Robert in bed with another man, panting and crying out with pleasure, all hands and lips and naked bodies writhing together. It was all too clear in Aaron’s head, because it was exactly what he’d done with him. Sneaking around behind Robert’s wife’s back. And now he was the one being hurt, the idiot lapping up all the lies Robert always told. He’d actually believed Robert when he said he’d be faithful, that there would be no one else, ever. How bloody naïve did that make him?

“Hey,” Robert said, coming into the back room of the pub. “Wondered where you’d got to.” Aaron sat shoulders hunched, staring at wood grain of the kitchen table. He couldn’t look at Robert right now. Just hearing his voice hurt more than he’d imagined.

“Get out,” Aaron said, still watching the table.

“Why?” Robert asked completely bewildered. He saw Aaron’s defensive stance and reached out, a hand on his shoulder. Aaron shrugged him off, standing up quickly.

“Don’t touch me,” he spat at him.

“Okay, do you want to tell me what I’ve done, or am I going to have to start guessing?” Robert asked honestly.

“I can’t believe I trusted you,” Aaron said, hating himself for the tears he felt building inside. He wouldn’t cry, wouldn’t give Robert the satisfaction of letting himself fall apart. “You know something? I’ve trusted you more than anyone in my entire life. What an idiot.”

“Aaron, calm down,” Robert said slowly. “I know you trust me. You will never know how much that means to me, I know how difficult you find it to trust anyone.”

“Don’t,” Aaron said harshly. He fumbled with his phone to get the picture up, then he showed it to Robert. Who sighed heavily, closing his eyes.

“Listen, I can explain…”

“I’m sure you can,” Aaron said. “Difference is... I don’t want to hear it. Get out.”

“Aaron, it was one kiss and I pushed him away.”

“Yeah, looks like it,” Aaron said sarcastically. The photo was small, but he could see Robert’s arms wrapped around this stranger, the other mans hand cradling Robert's head. It was definitely a lovers embrace, no doubt about it.

“I’ll stay at Vics,” Robert said. “Give you time to calm down.”

“I’m not the one in the wrong here,” Aaron said through gritted teeth. “Leave. I won’t do it, Robert. I’m not sharing you again.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Robert said darkly. He sensed that Aaron would need some time to calm down, and he didn’t want to push and push until Aaron snapped. From experience it wasn’t worth it. Aaron watched as Robert walked out, the door closing loudly. Aaron gasped for breath, mind still focusing on Robert with another man, graphic images in his mind on an endless loop he couldn’t turn off. And it hurt. It hurt more than he thought possible.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is only going to be about 5/6 chapters. It'll be sorted soon, have faith! Thank you for the Kudos and comments on Ch 1

“Can I stay here tonight?” Robert asked. Vic looked at him from the doorway.

“What’ve you done this time?” she asked, smiling at him. From past experience, Robert and Aaron would be back together in twenty four hours.

“Why do you think it’s me?” Robert asked, stung. “Why couldn’t it be Aaron being a stubborn pigheaded idiot determined to believe the worst of me?”

“Okay,” Vic said, moving aside and letting Robert in with raised eyebrows. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” Robert said before sighing heavily. “I’ve been so stupid, Vic.”

“Keep going.”

“I’ve kissed someone else.” Vic slapped him so quickly.

“Rob! You are a total idiot!” she said, loudly and angrily. “Why do you throw something away when it’s so good? You love Aaron, I know you do, so why do you do it?!”

“I hadn’t planned it,” Robert said, annoyed. “And I love him so much. I can’t bear it if Aaron doesn’t forgive me. I need him.”

“How long?”

“What?” Robert asked, not following. Then he read her face. “No, it’s not an affair. God, no! You think I could ever do that to him?”

“Hope not,” Vic said. “Why’re you so stupid, Rob?”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head, too tired to go over it all again now. “Look, I’m going to bed.”

* * *

 

Once Robert had left, Aaron took his seat back at the kitchen table, thinking hard. How long had it been going on? When? Surely not during the trial. Even though they hadn’t exactly been together then, if it had been going on that long, that would hurt unimaginably. When Robert was providing him with such support, just sneaking off behind his back to see this other man? It would be so much worse than what he was currently thinking. No, it wasn’t possible. It couldn’t have been going on that long. Aaron cast his mind back, wondering if he’d missed something. Any of the little signs he should have picked up on, being an expert at affairs after all.

_They were in bed, after an energetic round of sex, both of their breathing coming back to normal. “I saw you, you know,” Aaron said. “Looking at that guy.”_

_“Yeah,” Robert said, completely unabashed. He had kept his eyes on that stranger, he’d been gorgeous and just because he was in a relationship, and a good one, didn’t make him blind. “Is looking at other men a problem?”_

_“With your history, yeah,” Aaron said. “It is.”_

_“Oh, come on, Aaron,” Robert said. “I can look if I want. I’m always going home with you, that’s what’s important.” Aaron was quiet. “Isn’t it?”_

_“Yeah,” Aaron said. “Course. I can’t help but worry when you look at other men. It’s my own fault too, I was fine with it when it was me, wasn’t I?”_

_“Aaron, we were in a gay bar,” Robert said quietly. “Occasionally, I’m going to see someone I’m attracted to. Wouldn’t bother me if you looked at someone.”_

_“No?”_

_“No,” Robert said. “I trust you.”_

_“Maybe I’m being stupid,” Aaron said. “I… don’t like it.”_

_“Okay,” Robert said, accepting his feelings. “Aaron, I am not going to cheat on you. Ever. I love you too much. And God, whenever I look at you I still want you. After all this time? That‘s… new for me.”_

_“Even now?” Aaron asked, smiling as his hand started to roam over Robert’s body, teasing him._

_“Always.” Robert’s breathing deepened as Aaron started touching him just right._

_“I won’t cheat,” he repeated. “I have too much to lose. I’ve never risked this much and I won’t now.”_

_“Didn’t you with Chrissie?” Aaron asked._

_“All I had to lose with her was money. Oh, don’t stop doing that,“ he gasped with pleasure. “Now I could lose you, that’s so much more important. Oh…”_

_“That’s good to hear,” Aaron said. “I wonder if you’d be saying it if I didn’t have my hands right here.” Robert moaned at the touch, feeling like he was melting away. Aaron was so good._

_“I love what we have,” Robert said quietly. “I’m not throwing it away for a cheap thrill. Especially when you do that… Oh God…”_

“Hiya love,” Chas said. Aaron was brought back to the present with an unpleasant bump.

“What’s with the face?”

“Robert,” Aaron reluctantly admitted. He could barely hide it for long that Robert wasn’t living here after all.

“What’s the idiot done this time?” Chas asked easily. “Idiot” was almost becoming her usual term of endearment for Robert these days. Aaron got up the photo, unable to think of a good enough lie on the spur of the moment, he was in too much pain. Chas looked at it and froze for a moment.

“Oh. Uh… wh…” she cleared her throat and tried again. “Are you okay?”

“What do you think?” Aaron asked, snatching his phone back. “No, I am not okay. I… God, I’m in love with him. And he goes and does this?” 

“I know it hurts,” Chas said gently, not at all condescending which is what made Aaron start to fall apart. “It’ll get better.”

Aaron knew his voice was breaking and stopped even trying to talk. This wasn’t helping. “I’m going to bed.”


	3. Chapter 3

Aaron didn’t sleep well, unsurprisingly. More than once he’d reached for Robert in the middle of the night, wanting comfort from him. Then he’d woken properly with a jolt, realising why Robert wasn’t here. That kiss. Assuming he was telling the truth and it was just one kiss. He snorted. He was trusting Robert to be telling the truth? God, Aaron was even more pathetic than he first thought.

He stumbled down the stairs in his dressing gown, more emotionally tired than anything else, finding Liv in the kitchen, already dressed and watching the TV.

“Wow, you’ve overslept,” she said, looking at his face. “What’s happened?”

“Nothing,” Aaron grumbled, heading to the kettle to make himself a cup of tea. “Where’s Robert?”

“In bed with someone else for all I know,” Aaron said under his breath. He didn’t really believe that, not after their argument last night. “Not here,” he said at a normal volume. “He probably won’t be for a while, Liv.”

“You broken up with him?” she asked. “God you’re worse than a yoyo, you two. He can’t have done anything that bad.”

“Really?” Aaron asked.

“He’s a pain in the neck and annoying as hell, but he’s our pain in the neck,” Liv said.

“It’s different this time,” Aaron said. With a sigh, he reached into his dressing gown pocket for his phone. He’d looked at that picture more than a dozen times, praying it didn’t show what he thought it did. It got worse every time he looked at it. And if it had been a kiss Robert hadn’t wanted, why hadn’t he told Aaron in the first place? Why hide it? He got the picture up and showed Liv.

“You what?” she said, staring at the image with her face screwed up. “He did what?”

“Yeah,” Aaron said. “Once a cheat, always a cheat,” Aaron said bitterly.

“Morning. Still have a key,” Robert added as he saw both Liv and Aaron staring at him. Liv moved before either of them could really see her.

“You bastard!” she screamed, going for Robert. “Hasn’t he been through enough this year! How could you do it?” Liv started hitting his chest. She was so small this was mostly ineffectual, but Robert could tell she was really angry.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Robert said quickly, holding her body so she couldn’t hit him. Robert kept a firm grip on her arms. “I thought we were getting along?”

“I’ve seen the picture,” she almost spat. “Let go of me!”

“No more hitting?” She nodded once in agreement and Robert let her go.

“You didn’t have to show her,” Robert said.

“I’m not apologising,” Aaron said, prodding the teabag in his mug of tea.

“Are you going to let me explain?”

“Have you slept with him?” Aaron asked, looking into Robert’s eyes for the first time, needing to know the truth.

“Aaron, I’ve slept with no one else but you since you told Chrissie about us. No one. I don’t want to.”

Aaron knew Robert was a practised liar, but Robert knew that Aaron could see right through him. He accepted Robert was telling the truth, and felt something deep inside him relax. He hadn’t had sex with someone else, thank God. “Then where did that kiss come from?” Aaron asked, feeling his heart break.

* * *

 

_Robert walked into the Woolpack and immediately bumped into an old face. “Nick, what the hell are you doing here?” Robert said, surprised and pleased to see him._

_“Had a week off, thought I’d look you up,” Nick said with an easy smile. “See how’re you doing?”_

_“Good,” Robert said. He looked around the Woolpack, realising he didn’t want to have this conversation in front of the village gossips. “Come on, lets go outside.” He text Aaron, saying he would be late from work having bumped into an old friend. Almost exactly true, apart from the fact he wasn’t at work. He’d talk to Aaron later, it was just too complicated to put in a text message._

_“Let’s have a walk,” Robert suggested. It was a light summer evening so Nick nodded, taking an easy circle around the village, catching up with the last two years of their lives. Though how it’d been two years, Robert didn’t quite know. He guessed he’d been distracted, quite a lot had happened after all._

_“Thought you said you’d never come back here,” Nick said. “You said this village that had a lot of bad memories for you.”_

_Robert smiled at the ground. “Well, things change,” he said quietly. Now he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else._

_“Have you changed, though, Robert?” Nick asked with a smile. That was when Robert felt the first alarm bells, when Nick closed the gap between them._

_“I’m with someone,” Robert said, holding his hands up._

_“That didn’t stop you last time,” Nick said. “I remember what you’re like. You’re not with the wife, are you?”_

_“No,” Robert said. “That er… fell through.” He didn’t want to get into it because he did not come out of it well._

_Nick laughed. “Of course it did. Who were you fucking this time?” Nick grabbed his jacket and before he could even think, he’d pulled Robert into a kiss. Robert let him for a few seconds. He’d done this before, a long time ago. Nick’s lips felt wrong and yet familiar, there was a brief thrill of a dangerous embrace, making Robert wrap his arms around him. He shouldn’t be doing this. It was so wrong… Aaron. The body in his arms was wrong, too tall, the wrong shape, the taste of him wasn’t right. No, all wrong. Aaron. The name ran through his head like a cold bucket of water._

_“No!” Robert shouted, pushing him off. “No, I can’t.”_

_“We’ve done this before, Rob,” Nick said. “I can keep a secret.”_

_“No, I can’t. Aaron, I’ve got him at home, and I won’t hurt him like this.”_

_“A man? That is interesting. Thought you‘d live in that familiar closet of yours.”_

_“Why?” Robert asked, frowning at him. Nick was an old flame, and a friend, but suddenly Robert couldn’t see why he’d ever gone near him. “You know what, forget it. It was a mistake.”_

_“Oh, Rob don’t be like that. You know I can keep my mouth shut. Not to mention other things I can do with my mouth.”_

_“I’m not cheating on him, so don’t even try it,” Robert said bitterly. “I love him. Leave me alone. I thought we were just friends, but this? No.”_

_“Wow, this guy must be something seriously special_ ,” _Nick called after him. He is, Robert thought to himself. He didn’t say it, wasn’t worth wasting the energy, but he knew. Aaron was the most special thing in his life. He wasn’t going to wreck it. He felt more disturbed than he’d admit, especially by the fact he hadn’t pushed Nick off of him straight away. Why? Because he was so used to cheating? He had never been faithful for this long in his life. When he’d been trying to get Aaron back, he hadn’t been celibate that long in his life either. He didn’t know why he hadn‘t pushed Nick away, and that’s what frightened him. Not the kiss itself, that had meant nothing. As soon as he’d come to his senses, he’d stopped it. But for that split second, he’d enjoyed it. The taste of someone new, before his reason caught up with him. Maybe the old Robert couldn’t be buried completely after all. Maybe the remnants of who he used to be would always be there, hiding underneath. But right now, he needed Aaron in his arms. To remind himself why he would always be faithful to Aaron, why he’d always need him in his life. Why he was such a staggering, incredible person._

_Which is when he turned up in the back of the pub, finding Aaron holding a picture of him and Nick on his phone._


	4. Chapter 4

“That’s it?” Aaron asked.

“I might be able to embellish it a bit more if you like,” Robert said with a shrug. “But yeah, that’s it.”

“You enjoyed it,” Aaron said. Not a question. “I can see it, I know what you look like when you’re enjoying something you shouldn’t be, Robert. That guilty twitch you’ve got.”

“You can’t tell that on a phone, the pictures too small,” Robert said.

“Oh, Robert…”Aaron took a deep breath. “If it was so innocent, why didn’t you tell me?”

“No bloody time, Aaron!” Robert said. “I came to find you and you’re holding a picture. Who sent it by the way?”

“Don’t know,” Aaron said, shrugging. “Numbers not familiar.”

“Ring it,” Robert demanded.

“Why?”

“I find it a mighty coincidence that an old… friend of mine turns up after two years of silence, throws himself at me where someone happens to be pointing a camera phone at me.” 

Aaron exhaled heavily. He could see Robert’s point. “You’re not totally innocent here, Robert,” Aaron said, frowning at him.

“I pushed him off,” Robert said firmly. “I didn’t want him, I always want you.” Aaron stopped arguing. To be fair, he was a little curious who‘d sent that. He got his phone out and called the number. They both turned around when they heard vibrations from the sofa. Robert reached under the cushion and grabbed the phone. He was annoyed to see it was PIN protected.

“Who’s this belong to then?” Robert asked.

“I’ve never seen it before,” Aaron said.

“Well, we’ve got Liv, Chas, Charity or Noah.”

“It’s not Liv,” Aaron said immediately. “She was really shocked.”

“I got that,” Robert said. “She can pack a punch for a fourteen year old midget.” Aaron laughed, then felt terrible for doing it. He wasn’t sure he’d forgiven Robert yet. The fact he even thought the word _yet_ meant he would forgive him. Bloody Robert Sugden.

“So unless you want me to start accusing your family, got to break the code on the phone,” Robert said simply. He sat down and started typing away.

“You’ve got a lot of experience hacking into phones?” Aaron asked, unable to stop his lips from twitching.

“People use either random numbers or dates,” Robert said. “Let’s hope it’s a date.”

Aaron stayed silent, leaning up against the fridge, watching the concentration on Robert’s face as he tried to break into the phone. “It’s your mothers,” he said darkly five minutes later.

“How do you know that?” Aaron asked.

“The code’s your birthday. Twisted enough.” Robert sighed, closing his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn’t enjoy Chas hurting him and by extension Aaron. 

“No, she wouldn’t,” Aaron said. Robert didn’t answer him, instead looking through the phone but there was only the photo and a video on it, clearly a second phone. Curious, Robert played the video. He was right, he had been set up. Obviously he was losing his touch. He watched as the video version of himself stood still as Nick kissed him. He had a few seconds of highly uncomfortable viewing, watching himself respond before his brain caught up with himself and he pushed Nick off. He hadn’t realised at the time how aggressively he’d done it, Nick almost fell to the ground. Even on the video it was clear how angry Robert was, as he walked away.

“Watch that if you want,” Robert said, passing Aaron the phone. It couldn’t make it worse. It took about two seconds for Aaron to find the volume which Robert had forgotten about.

“I love him. Leave me alone,” Robert heard himself say from the phone.

“Would you have told me?” Aaron asked. “If I hadn’t found out.”

“Yes,” he said. “I’d have picked my moment, but yes I would have. I don’t enjoy keeping secrets from you.”

“You love secrets,” Aaron said. “I know you get a kick out of it.”

“Yeah, I do,” Robert said. “But not from you.” He took a risk and put a hand to Aaron’s face, relieved when he didn’t shrug him off. “I love you. I need you to trust me.”

“I need you not to kiss strange men. Or women.” Robert smiled a little at that.

“I love you,” Robert said. “You think I’d wait months for sex from anyone else?”

Aaron laughed, he couldn’t help it. “God, Robert, why do you do it to me?”

“Not on purpose,” Robert said. “And hey, with me you’re guaranteed not to get a boring life.” Aaron laughed again and Robert kissed him lightly, the smile pressed against him.

“I made a stupid mistake,” Robert said. “But I knew it when it was happening. You know how I used to be, this isn’t that.”

“Stop talking, Robert.” He grinned, taking the hint and kissed him, much deeper this time. “If I find out there’s more, I’ll kill you.”

“Good job I’m sure there’s not then,” Robert whispered. Aaron pulled him into another deep kiss, groaning into it. God, Aaron felt so good like this. Robert could almost feel a round of fantastic make up sex coming when the door opened and they broke apart. It was Chas.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Robert said, wanting to leave the atmosphere as soon as possible. He looked at Chas coldly before leaving the pub.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter here. Enjoy!

“Aaron, seriously?!” Chas asked. “You’re back with him? How much punishment can you take?”

Aaron threw her the phone and she flinched with recognition. It was all the admission Aaron needed and he sighed. “Why?”

“Look, don’t overreact,” Chas said. “I just…”

“Why?”

“He’s bad news, Aaron,” she said. “I wanted to do something to make you see it, I know you’re getting serious about him.”

“So, what you set him up?” Aaron asked incredulously. “This isn’t you.”

“No, I know,” Chas said. “I don’t want to see you get hurt. And Robert will hurt you, you know he will.”

“So you do the hurting instead?” Aaron asked. “How is that any better?”

“You deserve so much more,” she said. “I wanted you to see it, that’s all. I didn’t force him to do anything, love.” Aaron scoffed.

“This sounds like it’s got Charity written all over it,” Aaron said. “Not you.”

“She might have suggested it,” Chas said reluctantly.

* * *

 

_“Have you been in the back room lately?” Chas asked, irritated._

_“What, Robert and Aaron still occupying the sofa?”_

_“Oh, so you knew that,” Chas said, grumbling. “Word of warning might have been nice.”_

_“Oh, they’re happy,” Charity said. “Aaron could do with some happy.”_

_“He’s no good for Aaron,” Chas said. “I can’t bear him always here, always pretending he’s the good guy now, not the man who cheated on his wife.”_

_“Chas, he loves Aaron,” Charity said._

_“Are we really naïve enough to think Robert Sugden will ever change?” Charity flicked her eyebrows briefly in agreement, but said nothing. “He’ll hurt him, I know he will. And I’m just sitting here waiting for it to happen, all the time Aaron falls deeper and deeper in love with him. He’s so fragile, he’s been through enough.”_

_“You can’t stop him,” Charity said. “I am not Robert’s biggest fan, but you know he cares for Aaron.”_

_“Cared for Chrissie too, didn’t he?” Chas said. “Once upon a time. I hate letting him into my house, knowing he’ll cheat on Aaron when he gets bored.”_

_“When did you become so cynical?” Charity asked._

_“Realistic.”_

_“If you’re that convinced he’ll cheat, you could always follow him with a camera until he slips up,” Charity said. Chas caught her eye as if considering that. “Okay, that was a joke, not a serious suggestion, Chas.”_

_“No, but it’s good isn’t it?” Chas said. “Get rid of him now instead of a year down the line, where it’ll completely break Aaron’s heart.”_

_“Your logic is seriously twisted,” Charity said. “You don’t think it’ll break Aaron’s heart now?”_

_“If Robert really is a changed man, there’ll be nothing to catch, will there?” Chas said in a fake innocent voice._

_“Chas, I really think… this is more my kind of thing than yours.”_

_“I can’t stand Robert having his claws hooked into my son. It makes me feel sick.”_

_“This isn’t a great plan b,” Charity said. “You know that right? Chas? Chas!”_

* * *

 

“He will cheat on you, love,” Chas said sadly, shaking her head. “I want you to know what kind of man he is before you make a seriously big mistake.”

“Mum, how could you do that?” Aaron asked. “Do you want me to leave here, is that it?”

“No, of course not,” Chas said. “It might not have been my best idea, but…”

“Might not have been?” Aaron asked. “That’s an understatement. I have to go.”

“Where? Back to Robert?” Chas asked, voice dripping with distaste.

“Yeah,” Aaron said. “Back to Robert. Because I love him. Do you ever believe me when I say that?”

“Yeah, I do,” she said sadly. “I’m sorry. It was stupid.”

“Yeah,” Aaron said, leaving the pub and slamming the door behind him. “It was.”

* * *

 

“Come here,” Robert said quietly after Aaron had appeared at Vic’s door. He drew him in for a hug on the doorstep, not caring who saw. “Sorry, I knew she didn’t like me, but…”

“She really wants me to chuck you,” Aaron said into Robert’s neck. Robert just stroked his back gently.

“I assume you’re not going to listen,” Robert said. Aaron chuckled lightly. There was nothing funny about this, but he knew how much he needed Robert in his life. “What are we going to do?”

“Move out,” Aaron suggested, breaking away from him so he could look directly into his eyes. “Find out own place. With Liv.”

“You want that?”

“Yes,” Aaron said. “Don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do,” Robert said, smiling at him. “Not quite sure we’d be here this morning.”

“Look, Robert, I trust you,” Aaron said quietly. “That photo obviously upset me, but… I want you in my life. I need you.” Robert grinned widely, pulling him in for a deep kiss.

“Are we okay?” Robert asked, not wanting this to pop up in an argument somewhere down the line.

“Yeah,” Aaron said after a moment considering it. “It’s just your history, you know?”

“I know,” Robert said.

“I love you,” Aaron said, warming Robert’s heart, making him smile at the quiet declaration. “Sometimes it hurts, Robert. To love you this much.”

“I can’t fix that,” Robert said. “All I can do…”

“I know,” Aaron said, cutting him off, putting a hand to his face. “I know.”

“I love you too,” Robert said. “Come in. I’m guessing we’re not going back to the pub?” Aaron scoffed, shaking his head. “Okay then. I missed you last night.”

“Want to make up for lost time?” Aaron asked with a grin.

“Something like that,” Robert said. “It’d be enough to hold you, Aaron. I do miss you when I’m not with you.” Aaron recognised that this was much more emotionally honest than Robert usually was, and felt special that Robert allowed himself to be this vulnerable in front of Aaron.

“Come on,” Aaron said. He wanted to be held by Robert too.


End file.
